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The Unbound Brain
- 2018
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Ingår i: Culture Unbound. Journal of Current Cultural Research. - Linköping : Linköping University Electronic Press. - 2000-1525. ; 10:1
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Samlingsverk (redaktörskap) (refereegranskat)abstract
- The brain has long been an object of curiosity and fascination. Partly as a result of technological advances, issues related to the brain have become ubiquitous points of discussion in our culture. Along with neurological disease and neuroscience, it is frequently featured in Hollywood block buster movies, self-help books, popular science documentaries and fictional TV-series.1 Once cast as grey and stable matter, the brain is now commonly represented as a glowing and colourful entity through the use of new imaging technologies. Further, it is often likened to a complex and adaptable machine that can be enhanced continuously through dedication and deliberate effort. In this special issue of Culture Unbound, scholars from a number of disciplines within the humanities and social sciences address the pervasiveness and influence of neuroscience and representations of the brain in everyday contexts. A common thread in the articles is the idea that knowledge and narratives about, and visualisations of, the brain change practices and processes in daily life. In addition, the articles, in different ways, explore the brain as something that is perceived and portrayed as constantly transforming; an unbound brain.
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| 2. |
- Jönsson, Håkan, et al.
(författare)
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Mat- och måltidskultur – en introduktion
- 2022. - 1
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Bok (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Måltidskulturer påverkar alla situationer där lagande, ätande och drickande förekommer. Trots detta tas måltidskulturella aspekter sällan i beaktande i det praktiska arbetet med professionella måltider i Sverige. Med en ökad kunskap om måltidskultur är det möjligt att designa måltider som tilltalar och skänker mening till gäster med olika bakgrund, ideal och preferenser. Det finns därför en stor potential i att arbeta medvetet med måltidskulturella perspektiv. Denna text ger en introduktion till studiet av måltidskultur och synliggör hur måltidskulturen är närvarande och av betydelse för professioner som arbetar med måltider. Texten riktar sig främst till dig som studerar en måltidsinriktad utbildning, men vi hoppas att den ska vara användbar även i andra utbildningar och för alla som arbetar praktiskt med måltider och måltidsutveckling.
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| 3. |
- Hansson, Kristofer
(författare)
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I ett andetag : En kulturanalys av astma som begränsning och möjlighet
- 2007
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Though asthma is a commonly occurring disorder today, the development and introduction of anti-inflammatory drugs in treating it has changed the possibilities of living with it. At the same time, the Swedish guidelines for asthma care have changed: the patient is to take responsibility for her or his chronic illness to attain full quality of life. The study aims to make a cultural analytical investigation of what possibilities exist for young people to take responsibility for their chronic illness and what limitations present themselves. Its approach, proceeding from Simone de Beauvoir's concept of situation, problematises the view of the human being as an independent subject; rather, the human being finds herself in relation to other people and things. It does not appear from the empiric that the young people automatically internalise the diagnosis and the treatment that comes with it; instead, they act in relation to diagnosis as well as treatment. As a result, the treatment is not always being allowed to stand in the centre of conduct; the young people may be prepared to expose themselves to risks of breathing difficulties for the purpose of creating themselves as subject. The young people allso often act in relation to the attention that the drug and the sequence of events with medication generate in social contexts. This may become a situation in which the individuals do not want to show their medicinal object, or keep quiet about not feeling well due to the asthma. Beauvoir points out in her philosophy that we have a responsibility to create possibilities for the person who is limited in her or his daily life, and this can be discussed proceeding from the possibilities and limitations that are created in a situation. The ethical subject becomes central: through making visible the situation in which the person with a chronic illness finds her- or himself, the individual encountering that person can act in such a way that she or he gives the other person possibilities.
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| 4. |
- Jansson, Hanna, 1983-, et al.
(författare)
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Länsstyrelsen och o-djuret : Lek som strategi ifridlysningen av Storsjöodjuret 1985–2005
- 2022
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Ingår i: RIG. - 0035-5267 .- 2002-3863. ; :4, s. 210-225
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In 1985 the County Administrative Boardof Jämtland initiated a process to protect Storsjöodjuret (the Great Lake Monster). Asother famous cryptids, the Monster has become a valuable resource in the process of cultural heritage, marketing and tourism. We apply Bateson’s theories of play (1972) and Goffman’s concept of frame (1974) to show how play offers a metacommunicative strategy to circumvent expressions of disbelief in a locally important folkloristic phenomenon. We ask what reactions the board’s invitation to play are met with, and how the case’szoological, cultural and juridical frames are negotiated.The process is analysed with respect to the different actors’ relation to genres and keys. The playful process in 1985 is contrasted by the judicial intervention in 2002 by the parliamentary ombudsman by whom humour and play are not deemed acceptable communicative strategies. We understand this in terms of closeness, and find that closeness to Storsjöodjuret is a direct factor both to the complexity of suitable communicative strategy, as well as to the creation of the protective decision made as such.
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| 5. |
- Norström, Eva
(författare)
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I väntan på asyl. Retorik och praktik i svensk flyktingpolitik.
- 2004
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The purpose of my research is to examine the translation of logos into praxis in the handling of asylum-cases in Sweden. My point of departure has been the manner in which society has organised the handling of asylum-cases and the structure of this organisation. My thesis contains an account of an individual case which is representative of a multitude of problems in the asylum case handling. Caseworkers as well as decision-makers are pressed for time, meanwhile, adequate guidelines for the quality of their performance have been neglected. I deal with the generalising portrayal of the refugee - the border transgressor - and the decision-maker - the border protector. I also deal with the issue of blaming, which exists on all levels and areas of the field. A culture of mistrust has been permitted to develop within the system, nourished by a confusion of the concepts “reality” and “truth”. The power to make decisions is coupled with a high degree of personal abandonment in the system. To a large extent the functionaries avoid the ethical problems by maintaining that they are objective in their judgement, by limiting themselves to quantitative data, or by pointing out that it is parliament, which enacts the laws that they merely implement. Finally, I deal with what access asylum-seekers have to qualitatively fair and just treatment. The various actors on the refugee arena do not have enough knowledge about the each other’s perspectives, qualifications, mandate, work situation and loyalties. Although these actors are actually participants in the same symbolic struggle, there is no trust between them. In the study I have found it suitable to use the labyrinth as a metaphor for the asylum process.
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| 6. |
- Wiszmeg, Andréa
(författare)
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Cells in Culture, Cells in Suspense : Practices of Cultural Production in Foetal Cell Research
- 2019
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative affliction to which researchers have long striven to find a cure. The human embryo is a source of vital cells used in regenerative medicine, as well as a powerful symbol of life. Using foetal cells from aborted embryos for transplantation to the brains of Parkinson patients is an avenue that has been explored by neuroscientists on and off for the last thirty years. This ethnological compilation thesis follows a national branch of a foetal cell transplantation trial through successes as well as challenges in processing foetal material into an effective, transplantable cell suspension. The cell suspension is conceptualized as a bio-object, and explored as something that produces new knowledge, emotions and logistical and ethical negotiations. These products are beyond the scope of trial and biomedical research in general, but they do nonetheless interact with and affect society at large.New biomedical inventions and forms of therapies transgress the limits of life and death and the boundaries of individuals, as well as between species. Such cultural reordering challenges researchers, health care professionals as well patients on a daily basis. Exploring the intersection between instruction and practice, nature and culture as well as between science and ritual, this thesis contributes to a broader understanding of cultural and material conditions of knowledge production. It also offers a methodological elaboration of how a diffractive approach may be fruitful in ethnographic research, when trying to reconcile epistemological differences in cross-disciplinary endeavours.
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| 9. |
- Sandgren, Patrik
(författare)
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Lodjuret
- 2015
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Ingår i: Rig. - 0035-5267. ; 98:2-3, s. 163-166
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Recension (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
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| 10. |
- Alftberg, Åsa, et al.
(författare)
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The Sci-Fi Brain: Narratives in Neuroscience and Popular Culture
- 2018
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Ingår i: Culture Unbound. Journal of Current Cultural Research. - : Linköpings universitet. - 2000-1525. ; 10:1, s. 11-30
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The connection between neuroscience, popular media and lay perceptions of the brain involves the framing of complex scientific processes and results through familiar cultural narratives and metaphors. Such narratives are often built on the premise that neuroscience, with the help of powerful new technologies, will finally solve the mysteries of brain and mind, consciousness and morality. At the same time, popular culture – especially the science fiction genre – tends to focus on worst case scenarios of the implementation of technology. This article explores cultural narratives of what the brain is and how it functions in two different contexts – among neuroscientists and within popular culture. In particular, narratives about technology and the malleable brain as well as the notion of the mad scientist are studied. The article explores how these narratives are presented and used in popular culture and how neuroscientists relate to the narratives when describing their work. There is a contrast, but also a blurring of boundaries, between actual research carried out and the fictional portrayals of scientists constructing, or altering, fully functional brains. This to some extent serves as a background for the public’s understanding of, and attitude towards, neuroscience – something that must be taken into consideration when dealing with the therapeutic treatment of patients. The narratives of neuroscience in popular culture are to some extent shaped by actual scientific practices and findings, but neuroscience is also influenced by laypeople’s perceptions, which often have their roots in the narratives of popular culture.
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